The first and most important thing you should know about Paramount Pictures’ Thor is that it’s not a laughably corny comic book adaptation. Though you might find it hokey to hear a bunch of muscled heroes talk like British royalty while walking around the American Southwest in LARP garb director Kenneth Branagh has condensed vast Marvel mythology to make an accessible straightforward fantasy epic. Like most films of its ilk I’ve got some issues with its internal logic aesthetic and dialogue but the flaws didn’t keep me from having fun with this extra dimensional adventure.
Taking notes from fellow Avenger Iron Man the story begins with an enthralling event that takes place in a remote desert but quickly jumps back in time to tell the prologue which introduces the audience to the shining kingdom of Asgard and its various champions. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) son of Odin is heir to the throne but is an arrogant overeager and ill-tempered rogue whose aggressive antics threaten a shaky truce between his people and the frost giants of Jotunheim one of the universe’s many realms. Odin (played with aristocratic boldness by Anthony Hopkins) enraged by his son’s blatant disregard of his orders to forgo an assault on their enemies after they attempt to reclaim a powerful artifact banishes the boy to a life among the mortals of Earth leaving Asgard defenseless against the treachery of Loki his mischievous “other son” who’s always felt inferior to Thor. Powerless and confused the disgraced Prince finds unlikely allies in a trio of scientists (Natalie Portman Stellan Skarsgard and Kat Dennings) who help him reclaim his former glory and defend our world from total destruction.
Individually the make-up visual effects CGI production design and art direction are all wondrous to behold but when fused together to create larger-than-life set pieces and action sequences the collaborative result is often unharmonious. I’m not knocking the 3D presentation; unlike 2010’s genre counterpart Clash of the Titans the filmmakers had plenty of time to perfect the third dimension and there are only a few moments that make the decision to convert look like it was a bad one. It’s the unavoidable overload of visual trickery that’s to blame for the frost giants’ icy weaponized constructs and other hybrids of the production looking noticeably artificial. Though there’s some imagery to nitpick the same can’t be said of Thor’s thunderous sound design which is amped with enough wattage to power The Avengers’ headquarters for a century.
Chock full of nods to the comics the screenplay is both a strength and weakness for the film. The story is well sequenced giving the audience enough time between action scenes to grasp the characters motivations and the plot but there are tangential narrative threads that disrupt the focus of the film. Chief amongst them is the frost giants’ fore mentioned relic which is given lots of attention in the first act but has little effect on the outcome. In addition I felt that S.H.I.E.L.D. was nearly irrelevant this time around; other than introducing Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye the secret security faction just gets in the way of the movie’s momentum.
While most of the comedy crashes and burns there are a few laughs to be found in the film. Most come from star Hemsworth’s charismatic portrayal of the God of Thunder. He plays up the stranger-in-a-strange-land aspect of the story with his cavalier but charming attitude and by breaking all rules of diner etiquette in a particularly funny scene with the scientists whose respective roles as love interest (Portman) friendly father figure (Skarsgaard) and POV character (Dennings) are ripped right out of a screenwriters handbook.
Though he handles the humorous moments without a problem Hemsworth struggles with some of the more dramatic scenes in the movie; the result of over-acting and too much time spent on the Australian soap opera Home and Away. Luckily he’s surrounded by a stellar supporting cast that fills the void. Most impressive is Tom Hiddleston who gives a truly humanistic performance as the jealous Loki. His arc steeped in Shakespearean tragedy (like Thor’s) drums up genuine sympathy that one rarely has for a comic book movie villain.
My grievances with the technical aspects of the production aside Branagh has succeeded in further exploring the Marvel Universe with a film that works both as a standalone superhero flick and as the next chapter in the story of The Avengers. Thor is very much a comic book film and doesn’t hide from the reputation that its predecessors have given the sub-genre or the tropes that define it. Balanced pretty evenly between “serious” and “silly ” its scope is large enough to please fans well versed in the source material but its tone is light enough to make it a mainstream hit.

7:50: I'm ready to start this. I've just finished some leftover Chinese food, and now I'm ready to tear some people apart. Good thing I'm not at my own apartment because my old neighbor Madeline would surely stop giving me lemon tarts every week after a full night of screaming for more shots of Christina Hendricks.
7:51: Ah, commercial. Back to Law and Order: SVU to watch Robin Williams reboot his One Hour Photo creep.
7:59: HERE WE GO! BRING ON THE LOSERS!
8:00: OHHHHH snap just show me Tina Fey and I'll play along. Kate Gosselin, not so much.
8:01: NICE. BETTY WHITE AND JON HAMM. I'm liking this more than the cold noodles I just ate. Oh look! Jane Lynch's wax figure.
8:05: I really like this and everything, but if Conan O'Brien isn't there, I almost don't even want to watch anymore.
8:06 It's funny, I know I'm supposed to be looking at Jimmy Fallon, but I just keep going back to the guy from Lost who was in the news recently about something who had to do with Weezer.
8:07: January Jones is sitting next to Jason OMG CONAN IS THERE!
8:09: Ah yes, a montage of a year in comedy. Set to Chris Brown. Too perfect.
8:11: Is this the first category? Betty White looks like some kind of gradient you use in a Microsoft paint application.
8:13: Eric Stonestreet's rockin that "what's in his tux pocket?" look. So is Seacrest, incidentally. Aw, parents.
8:15: Can I just say thank Prosecco that it's not Jon Cryer?
8:18: Sofia Vergara's supposed to run naked if Modern Family wins. If she does, I suspect you'll check out a little bit early from this and I'll get to go do something crazy, like put on my Thundercats t-shirt.
8:21: Modern Family won best writing. Cool. Why did we go from Best Supporting Actor to best writing?
8:23: Every time I update this I just realize how I have 2 more hours to do this. It's like waiting for a plane that keeps getting delayed, and you're not in a cool city like Manhattan, Kansas.
8:25: BADASS, JANE LYNCH! BADASS. Thank your wife, Jane.
8:27: Matthew Perry's coming on? Where has he been? What, they couldn't get the cow that stands outside Stew Leonard's?
8:31: Oh, I see Lauren Graham was available.
8:33: Ryan Murphy for Best Directing, yeah, I see that. I also see that tux.
8:37: Alright bitches, let's slab some lube on Steve Carell and give him something new to play with.
8:38: WELL SHIT! JIM PARSONS FOR BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY. I don't get this one. Is he even strong enough to be wearing that tie?
8:40: Do I have any designated pee breaks while I'm doing this? I forgot to ask my boss. Maybe this commercial for "You Again" is the best one I'll get.
8:44: I feel like Jimmy isn't even in this. Where's the tweeting? AAAAND Neil Patrick Harris brings the first funny joke of the night.
8:45: Nice! Edie Falco just schooled Tina Fey and Lea Michele. That's her fourth Emmy! She's tied with Tina now, I think! What's the point of Jimmy Fallon's guitar? Is there a theme? Was I drinking when they tried to make it obvious?
8:49: Ah yes, Top Chef for best reality program. I can really say I've never watched this show because nobody ever breaks up with anybody. Padma looks like she just had Angelina Jolie/Billy Bob Thorton limo sex with the baby-daddy we know but kind of don't -- the one who invented Dell or something.
8:52: Lots of commercials for Oprah's last season. I feel like this award show is already so bipolar the Oprah stuff is overkill.
8:59: I will be VERY SURPRISED if Connie Britton and/or Kyle Chandler win. But this cliché montage music...WAIT. THE END OF LOST IS A MASS SUICIDE?! That dog must've been pretty pissed if he'd been there since the plane crashed.
9:04: NICE. Aaron Paul for Breaking Bad. This guy looks so ADD, but cool.
9:05: Did he even thank his mother? I know he told her to stop crying, but that just shows you how ADD he really is.
9:10: Wow, I have nothing to contribute about Archie Panjabi's win for The Good Wife. So instead, here's some video of a shih tzu puppy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpjyCE-R4Y4 My boyfriend doesn't have Firefox, so I can't actually put the link in this post. But I promise you, it's worth the trouble of copying and then pasting into a new window. TRUST.
9:13: AWESOME. Bryan Cranston won his third Emmy. I seriously just started watching Breaking Bad yesterday, and to Michael C. Hall, whom I love: you deserve recognition too. Maybe go have a kid?
9:22: If Dexter only gets an award for Best Director, I will never watch another Emmys again.
9:23: If Jimmy Fallon's going to do this, he might as well go back to SNL. Seriously. JIMMY! HAVE YOU HIDDEN YOUR BALLS IN SOME STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE? Oh, I take it back. Boys II Men. Very nice.
9:27: AVON AVON AVON.
9:30: AVON AND WHISKIES.
9:31: These Twitter updates Jimmy Fallon keeps giving almost make me want to quit Twitter. Wow, Kyra Sedgwick for The Closer! Nobody saw that coming. Not even Paul the Octopus! WAIT SHE JUST PASSED HER EMMY OFF TO TINA FEY! Kyra, you got some bitch in you!
9:34: Do you think she's going to make Kevin Bacon do the Footloose dance tonight in celebration? It's such a waste if she doesn't. He even pimped it out for an episode of Will and Grace!
9:35: VARIETY! CONAN'S CATEGORY! WHAT SHALL I DO IF HE WINS? OH GOD, PLEASE LET HIM WIN. I WILL SIT DOWN IN SOMEONE'S BEDBUG-RIDDEN APARTMENT IF HE WINS.
9:37: Oh, nevermind. Writing for a variety special. Go back to watching some shih tzu puppies.
9:40: Did this asshole just thank Jay Leno?
9:43: How do you guys think Conan is passing the time while he's there? Do you think he's playing Tetris or something? He hasn't been tweeting.
9:46: Ricky Gervais should just do a vampire show already. Now that he's so skinny, your eyes immediately go to his Edward teeth.
9:47: Ah yes, Ricky Gervais does a Mel Gibson joke. "Not worse than the Jews!" he says! Stellar. Not even worse than when you walk into Pets on Lex because you're hungry and you find every puppy that's there in a dead puppy sleep.
9:51 OH SNAP IT'S HERE. I HOPE COCO SAVED HIS TETRIS GAME. THAT SHIT'S A BITCH TO START OVER.
9:53: OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO'WEFHIAOWR723057208YFJNASDMVNMCXZV.NASDKLJF;EW857429---DWRU I;FDSHAF;ASHG;AGY8EWAOPTY9WPQT5729357Q2PIUE'WJFEIJIAKOFJLAKS;HFLAHREOIWRYOIWEYRDKVNSKLNVLFASKHFOAIWEYRO3YO3ITHASHGDSAKLFNLKSDFOIHOWA;IEHR;WOIH;OAEIHTO;AHW;OIASHGO;ADYG
9:53: JON STEWART. AND HE'S NOT EVEN THERE TO ACCEPT IT. I CAN'T BELIEVE I HAVE AN HOUR LEFT OF THIS.
9:57: I can't even enjoy a commercial for Nate Berkus' new show now.
10:00: And now I have to watch George Clooney accept something he'll probably lose on a plane when he's going to stay at his villa in Italy? Please.
10:01: Betty White even stood up to honor George. It just got like a vomitorium all up in here.
10:04: Does anybody watch these "mini-series" or "movies" things?
10:10: That commercial for Jimmy Smits playing a lawyer for Outlaw did less for me than Kim Kardashian's Twitter background.
10:17: GAMECHANGER! JEWEL! PLEASE TELL ME SHE'S GOING TO MISUSE THE WORD 'CASUALTY' AGAIN!
10:26: I think it just hit me that John Slattery didn't win for Mad Men.
10:30: Claire Danes for the win for Temple Grandin. She didn't thank her husband. Downgrade. Now I'm going to go back to googling whether or not Roy Disney was an anti semite.
10:35: Alexander Skaarsgard is officially Jack Skellington. If you don't know who that is, you don't get me and you never will.
10:38: Very nice, Al Pacino for You Don't Know Jack.
10:45: Laurence Fishburne! How's it going brother?! No Montana tonight? That's okay, she's probably studying algorithms.
10:51: Mad Men's third Emmy! I'd like to make a joke about how Fred Armisen deserves and Emmy for having been married to Scientologist Elisabeth Moss for 10 months, but I already took a crack at Jewel and I've gotten lazy after doing this for 2 hours and 53 minutes.
10:57: Who's this goat (thanks EB) and what did he do with Ted Danson! AAAND UPSET! MODERN FAMILY FOR BEST COMEDY SERIES!
10:59: AAAAAAAAAND I'm spent. Remember to tip your lobotomist and visit Hollywood.com for the latest and greatest on awards you'll never win.

Weird Science: Cinema's Five Worst Experiments
Science fiction films, much more so than books, have always used audience’s fear of the unknown in order to sell tickets. Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong, in some exaggerated Hollywood context, especially when dealing with near-future technology. The film Splice is one of the latest of the techno-fear movies, playing on the long-time and still all-too-current phobia we seem to have of scientists who mess around in what some consider to be only God’s sandbox: genetics. The film tells the story of two lab rats (Adrian Brody and Sarah Polley) who secretly splice together a mish-mash of animal genes with human DNA and end up with a new creature they name “Dren”. As you might imagine, things don’t exactly end up sunshine and rainbows. But it’s hardly the first film to express society’s fears of the worst that could happen...
The Island of Doctor Moreau
H.G. Wells original novel in 1896 was written as a reaction to public fears on animal vivisection and of degeneration, conjecture on Darwin’s Theory of Evolution that humans might not always be the dominant adapted species. It wasn’t until the third adaptation of the story into a film that the story’s root techno-fear became genetic tampering. John Frankenheimer helmed this version in 1996 starring Marlon Brando as the crazed doctor and Val Kilmer as the survivor of a plane crash who bears witness’s to the island’s mixture’s of human and animal DNA (including the perhaps uncomfortably sexy Fairuza Balk as a half-cat lady). The film was a gigantic mess and a failure both financially and critically, one which has been chalked up to a number of factors, but most notably, Frankenheimer directly attacking Kilmer and Brando as being totally impossible to work with. There’s an appeal though, so long after the fact the mess seems like more of a fascinating one.
The Boys From Brazil
When someone brought up cloning as a concept to the seventies, the decade lost it’s damn mind, no more memorably so than in the ’78 British/American co-production of Ira Levin’s novel of the worst possible post WWII nightmare. Some folks, even today, claim this actually happened (crazy people, mind you). I’m of course talking about, Hitler clones. Laurence Olivier hunts down Gregory Peck as Josepf Mengele who is trying to perform the heinous genetic recreation. Or has already....many times. Believe it or not, this fun but silly sci-fi film scored three Oscar nominations. And it’s even got a young Steve Guttenberg in it! Of course, in retrospect, many believe Guttenberg’s career itself to have been a third reich plot to instill mediocrity into the western world.
The Fly
If you’ve seen David Cronenberg’s masterful 1986 remake of the 1958 film, then you’re going to be smacked in the face with thematic similarities when you watch Splice. There’s no getting past it: more than just a little influence came from this Jeff Goldblum starring horror film. He plays a scientist who has come up with an almost-functional teleportation chamber. When his new girlfriend (Geena Davis) gives him the idea of how to make it be able to transport things of the fleshy variety, he tries it out on himself, only to regret not having built in a more no-nonsense safety buffer. His DNA becomes fused with an errant fly who was in the machine with him, which at first seems great, as he is gifted with added strength and dexterity; if Stan Lee had come up with the idea first, it would be a superhero origin film. But it’s a Cronenberg film, which means horrible HORRIBLE mutations start happening and the worst/best (depending on your viewpoint) kind of get-under-your-skin body horror proceeds to turn things rather gooey.
Jurassic Park
Isn’t science wonderful? Why, old man John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) is a modern day Walt Disney, taking the forefront of science and genetic engineering to do the most wonderful thing imaginable: bringing back to life the dinosaurs! At least on paper perhaps it sounded great, but as Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and others discover, not so much in practice. “Nature always finds a way”, Goldblum’s chaos theory scientist opines, and of course, he nails it on the head as the genetic solution Hammond’s scientists came up with to fill in sequence gaps, leads to the uncontrolled breeding that is the worst case scenario for the island. Audiences and critics largely embraced the film, many reacting with the same sort of sense of wonder the characters in it expressed (at first) at the dinosaurs in it, the effects being game-changing at the time. It was popular enough for it to garner two not-as-successful sequels and I think everyone fully expects the long-planned fourth movie to eventually rear it’s potentially ugly head.
Gattaca
As obvious a good thing as it would seem to many, the idea of using genetic technology to protect the human genome from abnormalities, there certainly would be a possible dark side to it, one which this 1997 sci-fi film explores. Ethan Hawke plays a man born without the use of this tech and finds himself in a society that, regardless of genetic discrimination laws, doesn’t allow “In-Valid”s such as himself to do much. When he meets Jude Law, a former athlete who was paralyzed in a suicide attempt, he buys his DNA identity in order to pursue his own dream of becoming an astronaut. Of course, there’s no problem with that genetic resume to get the job, but shortly before launch, a man is murdered and some of that borrowed DNA is found on the crime scene. Hawke has to dodge the detective (Alan Arkin) and hope that not only he is cleared of the crime, but that no one discovers his deception and that his new girlfriend (Uma Thurman) doesn’t react as most women have since the beginning of time to the genetically insufficient. Of all the films about such things, Gattaca has the greatest feel of ‘it could happen’ and it has garnered a respectable cult following since it’s release. Even though it wasn’t a smash theatrically, over ten years later there’s now a television show adaptation in the works. Some sci-fi seems more prescient than most; all we can do is hope that Gattaca isn’t one of them.

The Harvey Fierstein song and dance show about a camp gay couple first appeared on Broadway in 1983, and was revived in 2004, opening to rave reviews.
Hodge originally played the role of drag queen Albin on the London stage in 2008, winning a Laurence Olivier award for his performance - and he impressed theatre critics once again when the show opened in New York on Sunday (18Apr10).
A critic from the New York Times called Hodge's performance "a bravura Broadway debut", adding that he and Grammer were "equally disarming" on stage.
However, Grammer's performance as nightclub owner Georges, Albin's partner of 20 years, was met with mixed reactions.
A reviewer from the New York Post writes, "Olivier-winning star Douglas Hodge in action, we'll take it. Kelsey Grammer may be the draw for local audiences, but the show is Hodge's alone... (Grammer) looks more stiff than necessary."
Overall, the actors and their "uniformly excellent" supporting cast - including Fred Applegate, Veanne Cox, Chris Hoch, Elena Shaddow, A. J. Shively, Christine Andreas and Robin de Jesus - proved to be a hit with reviewers.
A critic from industry trade publication Daily Variety praised the cast and crew, calling director Terry Johnson's production "tenderly affecting".

The Incredibles had nothing on the hip snappy neurotic FF depicted in over 100 issues of co-creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s original wildly inventive ‘60s era comic books. Mr. Fantastic (Ioan Gruffudd) is still an absent-minded genius who mildly neglects his loved ones but with more of a mild Tim Allen sitcom dad-type quirkiness; the Invisible Girl (Jessica Alba) is still the team’s mother hen but frets less over her man’s workaholic tendancies; the Human Torch (Chris Evans) is still a flaming id but he’s trying to ease out of his arrested adolescence; and The Thing (Michael Chiklis) is far less tortured over his freakish rocky form now that he’s got a steady date in the blind Alicia Masters (Kerry Washington). And yes someone does wonder aloud exactly how the Thing gets his freak on. A few soft sex jokes aside this ride is aimed far more squarely for a younger audience as well as those moviegoers who long for the glory days of the f/x-filled disaster films of the late ‘90s when any recognizable tourist landmark depicted is sure to be blown to bits. The threat on this go-round is Galactus a cosmic planet-eating menace who has sent his herald the sleek Silver Surfer (a CGI creation given movement by Doug Jones of Hellboy and voiced by Laurence Fishburne). The Silver Surfer wreaks havoc on places like London and Japan before the Four takes him on playfully squabbling along the way like the cosmic-powered leads of a new Vacation film. The leads are more comfortable and try to notch up the comedic possibilities: Evans’ brash Vince Vaughn-ish portrayal of the Torch was a highlight of the first film but feels far more forced this time around; the great but ultimately handicapped Chiklis does what he can through latex and a silly gravel voice but isn’t given much to do; Alba continues to gradually grow as an actress but this film accomplishes the seemingly impossible by making her look as unattractive as she’s ever likely to appear with bad apparently irritating blue contacts a distracting fake blonde wig and a makeup job that makes her look more like a plastic action figure than a real superhero; but Gruffudd comes through with more distracted charm than in his first turn. Poor Julian McMahon an actor with an avowed fondness for the comic book source material is again miscast as Dr. Doom. He has even less to work with this time around in a part that should ideally be part-ham part-Hitler and part-Eurotrash coming of instead a snarky playboy in armor. The most interesting acting save for a tasty cameo performance by Stan Lee himself comes from the CGI Surfer but despite his silvery sheen and clear intention to be spun off into his own film franchise is still a colorless personality character-wise. Aided and abetted by generally great-looking special effects from New Zealand’s Weta Workshop writer-director Tim Story moves past some of the awkward meet-and-greet of the first film but this time he’s dropped much of the intended pathos. Story’s visual style is far more polished and appealing this time around but the helmer still lacks the fully-fledged senses of the cosmic the cinematic the mind-blowing the genuinely human and the downright funny to fully convey the true head trippy-ness that defined the original comic book and launched a whole Marvel Universe of superheroes with flawed but lovable personalities. Even with all of the characters’ origins out of the storytelling way Story can’t quite equal Bryan Singer’s X-Men trick or Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man successes to radically outdo the original. Still there’s plenty of eye-candy – from the end-of-the-world f/x to Alba and Evans in spandex – and the proceedings are mercifully fast-paced making for a mildly enthralling day at the multiplex for the whole family.

Box office figures were Served this Super Bowl weekend.
The youthful hip-hop dance film You Got Served, starring the defunct boy band B2K, took the top spot with $16 million*, knocking last week's champ, the Ashton Kutcher thriller The Butterfly Effect, down to the third spot with $9.9 million.
"[You Got Served] is one of those movies that flies beneath the radar, then suddenly, it's at No. 1," Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations, told The Associated Press. "It just shows when you go after that teen audience, it's an audience that definitely has power."
Second place belonged to the raucous romantic comedy Along Came Polly, which took in a decent $10 million, while the regal The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King came in fourth with $5.2 million.
Rounding out the top five was another newcomer, the SAT heist flick The Perfect Score with $5 million, while the other heist flick opening this week, The Big Bounce, failed to make it to the top 10, scraping by with a measly $3.3 million.
With the Academy Award nominations announced on Tues. Jan. 27, the box office also saw a few familiar faces return in re-release, including Best Picture nominees Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, which earned $2.3 million in 1,118 theaters, and Lost in Translation, which grossed $2.1 million in 632 theaters. Both joined Mystic River, which expanded last week. The indie drama Monster, which stars Best Actress nominee Charlize Theron, also saw a 49 percent jump, with a healthy $3 million in 668 theaters.
The overall Super Bowl weekend figures of $75.2 million, were slightly down, 5.93 percent, from the same Super Bowl weekend last year (which came a week earlier), at $79.9 million.
THE TOP TEN
Screen Gems' PG-13 rated hip-hoppin' You Got Served opened in the No. 1 slot with an ESTIMATED $16 million, which comes somewhat as a surprise since it only opened in 1,933 theaters. Still, its $8,277 per theater average was the highest of any film playing wide this week.
The former boy band B2K hits the big screen as an urban dance crew competing for a big cash prize.
Directed by Chris Stokes, it stars Marques Houston, Omarion, Jarell "J-Booq" Houston and Dreux "Lil Fizz" Frederic.
Universal Pictures' PG-13 rated romantic comedy Along Came Polly stayed in second place in its third week with an ESTIMATED $10 million (-38%) in 3,052 theaters (+57 theaters; $3,300 per theater). Its cume is approximately $66.7 million.
Directed by John Hamburg, it stars Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Debra Messing.
Last week's champ, New Line Cinema's R rated supernatural drama The Butterfly Effect, dropped to third place in its second week with an ESTIMATED $9.9 million (-42%) in 2,605 theaters (unchanged; $3,820 per theater). Its cume is approximately $32.4 million.
Directed by Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber, it stars Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, Elden Henson and Ethan Suplee.
New Line Cinema's PG-13 rated fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King actually moved up a spot to fourth in its seventh week with an ESTIMATED $5.2 million (-22%) at 2,556 theaters (-302 theaters; $2,338 per theater). Its cume is approximately $345.2 million.
Directed by Peter Jackson, it stars Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, Ian McKellen, Sean Astin, Liv Tyler, Miranda Otto, Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan.
Paramount Pictures' PG-13 rated dramedy The Perfect Score opened in fifth place, scoring $5 million in 2,208 theaters with a $2,264 per theater average.
A group of high school seniors conspire to steal the answers to the SAT test.
Directed by Brian Robbins, it stars Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Erika Christensen, Bryan Greenberg and Leonardo Nam.
*Box office estimates provided by Exhibitor Relations, Inc.
Sony's PG-13 rated drama Big Fish dropped two notches to fourth place in its eighth week with an ESTIMATED $4.6 million (-35%) in 2,280 theaters (-158 theaters; $2,018 per theater). Its cume is approximately $55.3 million.
Directed by Tim Burton, it stars Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter and Alison Lohman.
Miramax Films' R rated Civil War drama Cold Mountain held on to seventh place in its sixth week with an ESTIMATED $4.5 million (-9%) at 2,500 theaters (-302; $1,813 per theater average). Its cume is approximately $78.8 million.
Directed by Anthony Minghella, it stars Jude Law, Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweger.
Dropping considerably, DreamWorks' PG-13 rated romantic comedy Win a Date With Tad Hamilton! came in at No. 8 in its second week with an ESTIMATED $4.5 million (-39%) in 2,808 theaters (+97; $1,603 per theater). Its cume is approximately $13.4 million.
Directed by Robert Luketic, it stars Kate Bosworth, Josh Duhamel and Topher Grace.
Warner Bros.' dramatic R rated Mystic River moved up a spot to ninth place since expanding to more theaters last week with an ESTIMATED $4.4 million (+31%) at 1,370 theaters (+43 theaters; $3,215 per theater). Its cume is approximately $64.8 million.
Directed by Clint Eastwood, it stars Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Laura Linney and Marcia Gay Harden.
Twentieth Century Fox's PG rated family comedy Cheaper by the Dozen rounded out the top 10 in its fifth week with an ESTIMATED $4.1 million (-36%) in 2,396 theaters (-416 theaters; $1,711 per theater). Its cume is approximately $127.8 million.
Directed by Shawn Levy, it stars Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, Hilary Duff and Tom Welling.
OTHER OPENINGS
Warner Bros. PG-13 rated Hawaiian heist caper The Big Bounce didn't have much spring in its step in its opening weekend, taking in an ESTIMATED $3.3 million in 2,304 theaters with a $1,439 per theater average.
Directed by George Armitage, it stars Owen Wilson, Charlie Sheen, Morgan Freeman, Sara Foster and Gary Sinise.
WEEKEND COMPARISON
This week, the Top 12 films grossed an estimated $75.2 million, down 8.75 percent from last week's $82.4 million, as well as down 19.65 percent from last year's $93.6 million.
Last year, Buena Vista's PG-13 rated The Recruit debuted at the No. 1 spot with $16.3 million at 2,376 theaters with a $6,861 per theater average; New Line Cinema's R rated horror sequel Final Destination 2 opened in second with $16 million in 2,834 theaters with a $5,652 per theater average; and DreamWorks' PG-13 rated actioner Biker Boyz premiered in third with $10 million in 1,766 theaters with a $5,723 per theater average.

Top Story: Chris Rock To Host MTV Awards
After a four-year hiatus, Chris Rock will return to host the 20th annual MTV Video Music Awards on Aug. 28 at New York's Radio City Music Hall. Rock told The Associated Press that he is going on a cross-country club tour whet his stand-up skills but added that most of the show's comedy comes naturally as the evening progresses. "You watch people host these shows who change outfits eight times in the show. No--watch the show. That's the most important thing," Rock said. "Half the time the presenters don't read what's on the cue cards and you never know when Diana Ross is going to grab Lil' Kim's [breast], and you'd hate to miss that because you're putting on something from Banana Republic." Rock, however, won't announce his comedy show dates ahead of time and tickets will go on sale in each city just 24 hours in advance, the AP reports.
Eastwood's Mystic River Opens NYFF
Actor/director Clint Eastwood's psychological drama Mystic River, which was shown in competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival, will open the 41st New York Film Festival on Oct. 3, Reuters reports. Eastwood also served as a producer on the project, which is based on Dennis Lehane's best-selling novel and adapted by L.A. Confidential's Brian Helgeland, and composed the film's score. Mystic River, scheduled for release Oct. 10, stars Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden and Laura Linney. The NYFF runs Oct. 2 through Oct. 19.
Man Pleads Guilty to Bootlegging Hulk
A New Jersey man pleaded guilty Wednesday to bootlegging a copy of The Hulk and then making it available in a chat room used to post and trade unauthorized movie copies, the AP reports. Kerry Gonzalez, 24, pleaded guilty to a single count of copyright infringement and could faces six months to a year in prison when he is sentenced Sept. 26. According to court documents, Gonzalez obtained the tape from a friend of an employee at a Manhattan advertising agency that had been given an advance copy of the film.
Commission Investigates Russell Simmons
Hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons, who is part of a coalition that has been working to convince New York's state legislature to relax the so-called Rockefeller drug laws, is now under investigation for his aggressive lobbying efforts. According to Reuters, the state's lobbying commission is looking into whether Simmons spent more than $2,000 to influence state officials and to see if he gave an illegal gift of a free helicopter ride to Secretary of State Randy Daniels last week. Anyone spending over $2,000 to lobby the state government must register with the commission and make periodic financial disclosures and state officials are not allowed to accept gifts worth more than $75.
Timberlake Joins Rolling Stones' Toronto Concert
Justin Timberlake will join the Rolling Stones in a benefit concert for the city of Toronto on July 30, Launch.com reports. Hosts by actors Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi, the eight-hour Molson Canadian Rocks For Toronto concert is being staged to put a positive spotlight on Toronto, which was hard-hit earlier this year by the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) epidemic. Others acts on the bill include the Isley Brothers, AC/DC, the Flaming Lips, and the Mexican group La Chicane. Three hundred thousand tickets will go on sale Friday across North America.
UPN Orders Another Round of Top Model
UPN has ordered a second installment of the Tyra Banks-hosted modeling competition series America's Next Top Model, Reuters reports. The hour-long series, which revolves around the elimination-style competition among 12 women to survive a modeling "boot camp," has been a godsend to the network since it premiered May 20. UPN has ordered 10 episodes of the next installment of Top Model and will be a midseason entry during the upcoming 2003-04 season. There is no word yet from the network on a premiere date.
Buddy Ebson Hospitalized
Buddy Ebsen, who portrayed Jed Clampett on the 1960s TV series The Beverly Hillbillies, was admitted into Torrance Memorial Medical Center in Calif. for an undisclosed illness, the AP reports. A hospital spokeswoman said Thursday that the 95-year-old actor's "condition is good." Ebsen, who lives in nearby Palos Verdes Estates, began his TV nine-year career as Clampett in 1962 and later took the title role in the CBS detective drama Barnaby Jones, which ran from 1973 until 1980. He has also written two books, including an autobiography, The Other Side of Oz and Kelly's Quest.
Role Call: Miramax Acquires Pippen, Linney Joins Punisher Cast
On the heels of the acquisition of the film rights to Damn Yankees, Miramax Films announced today that it has acquired the rights to the hit Broadway musical Pippin for development into a feature film. Originally directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse, the tuner debuted on Broadway in 1972 and ran for five years ... Laura Harring has joined the cast of the comic-book actioner The Punisher, starring Thomas Jane and John Travolta. The Artisan Entertainment/Marvel Studios project revolves around a vigilante hero who dispenses harsh justice to criminals after his wife and children are slain by the mob. Writer/director Jonathan Hensleigh will start shooting the film next month in Florida and is scheduled for release next summer.

Americans played Hardball at the box office this weekend, finding some much needed escape from the week's tragic news.
Ticket sales by key films -- those grossing $500,000 or more for the weekend -- were approximately $61.2 million, up about 29 percent from the comparable weekend last year's total of $47.4 million.
Insiders had speculated that ticket sales this weekend would hinge on whether there was any new big breaking news. In the event that there was major breaking news, Americans would almost certainly have remained glued to their television sets as they had been for most of last week. In the happy absence of new big breaking news, it seemed likely the public would turn to movies for some escape.
"There was resilience (in the marketplace) and it was amazing," Warner Bros. Distribution president Dan Fellman observed Sunday morning. "I think it was great. The American people wanted to get out of the house. We're 26 or 28 percent ahead of last year (based on Warners' early estimates). There was a huge bump between Friday and Saturday (for many films). I think people needed a little relief and they went to the movies."
Asked about ticket sales in the New York area, Fellman said, "New York was exceptionally strong. I looked at (Paramount's) Hardball on Friday night and the screen average in L.A. was $2,000 and the number two market was New York at $1,800 (per theater for Friday). And usually that's the normal pattern. Now, obviously, there are theaters in Manhattan (where business was down). You can take isolated areas and make an argument (that people stayed away). But, in general, Washington (also) was where it should be on the charts. I think people needed a little escapism."
With neither of the weekend's new films -- Paramount's Little League baseball comedy drama Hardball and Columbia's suspense thriller The Glass House -- being big high profile releases, however, the weekend's box office potential was clearly limited no matter what was happening in the world.
Nonetheless, this weekend's total was down by only about 11 percent from the previous weekend this year when key films took in $68.8 million. That suggested to some industry executives that there would have been a lot more moviegoing this weekend if the films Hollywood happened to have scheduled to open now had stronger commercial appeal.
"Unfortunately, there was nothing compelling (for people to see)," another distribution executive, who asked not to be identified, pointed out Sunday morning. "It would have been a great weekend to open a really great comedy where there's real escapism. There are no sporting events (this weekend) and TV is now becoming more depressing. The truth of the matter is that people are looking for something to escape to."
Paramount's opening of its PG-13 rated urban appeal drama-comedy Hardball hit first place with an energetic ESTIMATED $10.1 million at 2,137 theaters ($4,726 per theater).
Hardball's average per theater was the highest for any film playing in wide release this weekend.
Directed by Brian Robbins, it stars Keanu Reeves.
"I expect a strong Sunday," Paramount distribution president Wayne Lewellen said Sunday morning. "We were hurt on Friday. The big urban theaters didn't kick in until Saturday night. We expect a very strong Sunday with the kind of ethnic appeal we have with the film. But it's also playing very well (in general).
"The exit polls went through the roof. It scored a 91 on the index. It's the overall score for the picture after you compile all the information. Anything over 80 is through the roof and a 90 is basically unheard of."
Lewellen noted that Paramount did its "exit polls yesterday and I haven't seen the (details yet). When we did the sneaks last week, 96 percent were in the Top Two Boxes (excellent and very good). There's no reason to believe that it would change."
Asked if people looked to movie theaters as a means to escape from reality this weekend, Lewellen replied, "I think so. It seemed that they were somewhat preoccupied on Friday because of the Day of Mourning. There were candlelight vigils Friday night. I think there was a lot of participation in that. Everything in the market had a tremendous bump Saturday from Friday. I think you're going to see a continuation of that today -- obviously, unless (there is) some kind of breaking news activity."
Lewellen pointed out that, "The last time we experienced anything like this was the Kennedy assassination. Really, there aren't any records we can refer to. We simply had conversations with people who were around then (in 1963) and remembered the business. Everybody pulled all the movies out of that weekend except for one film. It was a Jayne Mansfield film called Promises! Promises! (a sex comedy starring Mansfield, who was seen naked on the screen for the first time in this film, which was directed by King Donovan and also starred Marie McDonald, Tommy Noonan and Mickey Hargitay). It was the only film that opened (via NTD, an independent distributor at the time) and it set house records. People were looking for escapism and, obviously, the networks as they did now were only broadcasting newscasts. Of course, it does become redundant when there's no new news and they just say the same thing over and over.
"In addition, I think that the fact that the Memorial was held on Friday -- it's not closure, but it sort of said that it's OK to go out (and start trying to get back to normal). And that's why I think we're going to have an extraordinary Sunday (at the box office)."
Columbia's opening of its PG-13 rated suspense thriller The Glass House cracked the chart in second place with a solid ESTIMATED $6.1 million at 1,591 theaters ($3,834 per theater).
Directed by Daniel Sackheim, it stars Leelee Sobieski, Diane Lane and Stellan Skarsgard.
"Not an expensive picture -- $22 million," Sony Pictures Entertainment worldwide marketing &amp; distribution president Jeff Blake said Sunday morning. "We had a rather moderate release (with) pretty focused advertising, a reasonable number of prints and I think our caution was rewarded with a decent start that should get it into the $20 millions (in domestic theaters) and break even or make a little profit."
The studio's marketing efforts, Blake explained, "were focused toward younger females. It's a PG-13 thriller with Leelee Sobieski and I think that certainly the research going in indicated that that was the crowd. And we were specific in our advertising towards them. A focused mid-September release that turned out fine."
Commenting on how this weekend played out, Blake commented, "On the one hand, it looks like the lowest of the year. On the other hand, it's up over last year. It's hard to say, but I'm sure as we all look at our individual figures we all would have liked to have a little more -- but from Day One we thought a $6 million opening on Glass House was a reasonable expectation. It didn't seem like the events (of last week) took us away from that one way or the other."
Universal and Miramax's PG-13 rated action adventure acquisition The Musketeer fell two rungs to third place in its second week with a less dramatic ESTIMATED $5.31 million (-49%) at 2,476 theaters (+38 theaters; $2,145 per theater). Musketeer, which Universal picked up for North America for only about $3.75 million, has a cume of approximately $17.6 million, heading for $25-30 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by Peter Hyams, it stars Catherine Deneuve, Mena Suvari, Stephen Rea, Tim Roth and Justin Chambers.
"There was a tremendous jump between Friday and Saturday," Universal distribution president Nikki Rocco said Sunday morning, referring to the marketplace in general.
Musketeer, for instance, was up about 59 percent on Saturday from Friday. There were similar big increases on Saturday for such films as Hardball (up about 69 percent), The Others (up about 55 percent), Rush Hour 2 (up about 82 percent), Rat Race (up about 70 percent) and American Pie 2 (up about 58 percent).
Asked what accounted for such increases across the board, Rocco replied, "There was nothing else to do. People were home all day. On Friday, people came home from school and from work and wanted to catch up on the (news). But by Saturday, there was nothing else to do. There was no football. There was no baseball."
Focusing on Musketeer, Rocco said, "It's a very successful acquisition for us. We're very happy that we made this deal for domestic rights (for only $3.75 million)."
Dimension Films' PG-13 thriller The Others rose one slot to fourth place in its sixth week, still holding well with an ESTIMATED $4.8 million (-20%) at 2,843 theaters (+106 theaters; $1,688 per theater). Others, which cost only $17 million to make, has a cume of approximately $73.6 million, heading for $80-85 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by Alejandro Amenabar, it stars Nicole Kidman.
Asked where Others is heading, David Kaminow, senior vice president, marketing for Dimension's parent company Miramax, replied, "$80 million looks like it's pretty much a sure thing (so probably) $80-85 million. It's a tidy little winner!"
Sony's Screen Gems label's R rated urban appeal romantic comedy Two Can Play That Game slipped three pegs to fifth place in its second week with a still playful ESTIMATED $4.7 million (-39%) at 1,297 theaters (theater count unchanged; $3,624 per theater). Made for only $6 million, its cume is approximately $13.9 million, heading for the mid-$20 millions in domestic theaters.
Written and directed by Mark Brown, it stars Vivica A. Fox and Anthony Anderson.
"Two Can Play That Game continues to be a nice little success story for us," Sony's Jeff Blake said Sunday morning. "It's another film headed towards the mid-$20 millions, perhaps. And this one only cost $6 million. Again, a very focused campaign. I feel pretty good about what we had lined up for September and what we're spending (on marketing) to get there."
New Line Cinema's PG-13 rated action comedy blockbuster sequel Rush Hour 2 held on to sixth place in its seventh week with an OK ESTIMATED $4.35 million (-24%) at 2,266 theaters (-280 theaters; $1,920 per theater). Its cume is approximately $211.4 million, heading for $220 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by Brett Ratner, it stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker.
MGM's Jeepers Creepers, the R-rated horror film from the studio's United Artists label, fell four slots to seventh place in its third week with a slow ESTIMATED $3.85 million (-38%) at 2,847 theaters (-97 theaters; $1,353 per theater). Its cume is approximately $29.7 million.
Written and directed by Victor Salva, it stars Gina Phillips, Justin Long, Jonathan Breck and Eileen Brennan.
Paramount's PG-13 comedy Rat Race held on to eighth place in its fifth week, still holding nicely with an ESTIMATED $3.63 million (-19%) at 2,495 theaters (-56 theaters; $1,453 per theater). Its cume is approximately $47.8 million, heading for $55-60 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by Jerry Zucker, it stars Rowan Atkinson, John Cleese, Whoopi Goldberg, Cuba Gooding Jr., Seth Green, Jon Lovitz, Breckin Meyer and Amy Smart.
Universal's R-rated youth appeal comedy hit sequel American Pie 2 slid two pegs to ninth place in its sixth week with a less sexy ESTIMATED $3.56 million (-25%) at 2,339 theaters (-438 theaters; $1,520 per theater). Pie 2, which cost about $30 million to make, has a cume of approximately $135.9 million, heading for $140 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by J.B. Rogers, it stars Jason Biggs, Shannon Elizabeth, Alyson Hannigan, Chris Klein, Natasha Lyonne, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Tara Reid, Seann William Scott, Mena Suvari, Eddie Kaye Thomas and Eugene Levy.
Rounding out the Top Ten (and virtually tied for ninth place) was Bel-Air Entertainment's R-rated drama Rock Star, distributed by Warner Bros., down six slots in its second week with a dull ESTIMATED $3.53 million (-41%) at 2,525 theaters (theater count unchanged; $1,396 per theater). Its cume is approximately $11.2 million.
Directed by Stephen Herek, it stars Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston.
OTHER OPENINGS
This weekend did not see the arrival of any other high profile or wide openings.
SNEAK PREVIEWS
This weekend saw no national sneak previews.
EXPANSIONS
On the expansion front, this weekend saw Fox Searchlight Pictures R-rated hit thriller The Deep End go wider in its sixth week with an OK ESTIMATED $0.75 million (-22%) at 412 theaters (+11 theaters; $1,823 per theater). Its cume is approximately $6.9 million.
Written produced and directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, it stars Tilda Swinton, Goran Visnjic and Jonathan Tucker.
MGM's release of United Artists' R-rated youth appeal comedy Ghost World continued to widen in its ninth week, holding well with an ESTIMATED $0.37 million (even) at 104 theaters (+13 theaters; $3,667 per theater). Its cume is approximately $4.2 million.
Directed by Terry Zwigoff, it stars Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Brad Renfro, Illeana Douglas and Steve Buscemi.
Miramax's R-rated Apocalypse Now Redux widened in its seventh week with an OK ESTIMATED $0.2 million (-30%) at 105 theaters (+13 theaters; $1,904 per theater). Its cume is approximately $3.5 million.
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, it stars Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Martin Sheen, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper and Harrison Ford.
Paramount Classics' R-rated drama Our Lady of the Assassins went wider in its second week with a still hopeful ESTIMATED $0.055 million (-2%) at 12 theaters (+8 theaters; $4,595 per theater). Its cume is approximately $0.1 million.
Directed by Barbet Schroeder, it stars German Jaramillo and Anderson Ballesteros.
INTERNATIONAL
On the international front, Universal reported that it opened The Fast and the Furious in the U.K. this weekend to a solid $1.7 million on 400 screens for Friday and Saturday. That total does not include the 63 screens where the film is playing in Ireland, where theaters were closed Friday as a national day of mourning for the U.S.
Universal said Fast's two-day U.K. gross was 20 percent higher than the $2 million that Scary Movie 2 kicked off to in the U.K. a week ago.
Universal also reported that its international release of Bridget Jones's Diary (co-financed with Miramax, which distributed it domestically) is now up to $130 million, making it this year's seventh biggest grossing film internationally. It still has 14 countries in which it will be opening -- including Japan on Sept. 22.
Universal said that Jurassic Park III's international cume is now at $165 million, making it the fifth highest grossing film of the year internationally. There still are eight countries in which JP III will be opening.
Universal's American Pie 2 had its first international opening this weekend in Israel, kicking off to a strong $217,000 on 30 screens ($7,200 per screen) and capturing first place. The studio will be releasing Pie 2 over the next four months. Its next openings are slated for Sept. 27 in Germany and Austria.
WEEKEND COMPARISONS
Key films -- those grossing more than $500,000 -- took in approximately $61.23 million, up about 29.29 per cent from the comparable weekend last year when key films grossed $47.36 million.
This weekend's key film gross was down about 11.05 percent from last weekend of this year, when key films took in approximately $68.82 million.
Last year, Universal's second week of The Watcher was first with $5.81 million at 2,745 theaters ($2,115 per theater); and Warner Bros.' opening week of Bait was second with $5.49 million at 2,352 theaters ($2,332 per theater). The top two films one year ago grossed $11.3 million. This year, the top two films grossed an ESTIMATED $16.2 million.

The Musketeer stormed this weekend's box office, capturing first place with nearly $11 million.
The independently made PG-13 rated action adventure, whose acquisition costs were shared by Universal and Miramax, is being distributed in North America by Universal and in the U.K. by Miramax. The Universal and Miramax presentation is a production from D'Artagnan Productions Ltd., Apollomedia, Q&amp;Q Media and Carousel Picture Company.
Musketeer topped the chart with an ESTIMATED $10.7 million at 2,438 theaters ($4,390 per theater), an energetic showing for the traditionally quiet first weekend after Labor Day and the end of summer.
Directed by Peter Hyams, it stars Catherine Deneuve, Mena Suvari, Stephen Rea, Tim Roth and Justin Chambers. The film was produced by Moshe Diamant and executive produced by Mark Damon, Steven Paul, Rudy Cohen, Frank Hubner and Romain Schroeder.
Driven by Musketeer, ticket sales for key films--those grossing $500,000 or more for the weekend--were approximately $69.8 million, up nearly 29 percent from last year's post-Labor Day weekend total of $54.1 million.
"We're pleased," Universal distribution president Nikki Rocco said Sunday morning. "Strategically, when we made the deal with Miramax as a partner on Musketeer--they're going to release it in the U.K. and we have North American rights--knowing that we were successful with The Watcher last year on the same weekend we saw an opportunity here believing that Rock Star and Two Can Play That Game were (aimed) at different targets.
"We had a magnificent trailer on Musketeer that made it look very different from all the (other movies about the Musketeers). Taking the opportunity to play this incredible trailer with American Pie 2 gave it a lot of visibility. This is the end result. American Pie 2 has done over $131 million worth of business."
Focusing on the acquisition of Musketeer, Rocco pointed out, "Universal's share was $3.75 million. It's a very profitable thing for us. We were very strategic about how we did it. We wanted to be away from all of the high profile (summer) films. This is the weekend last year that we opened another acquisition, The Watcher, to $9.1 million. It was the number one film and made money for us, grossing (about) $29 million (in domestic theaters)."
Sony's Screen Gems label opened its R rated urban appeal romantic comedy Two Can Play That Game to a sexy ESTIMATED $8.3 million at 1,297 theaters ($6,400 per theater).
Game's average per theater was the highest for any film playing in wide release this weekend.
Written and directed by Mark Brown, it stars Vivica Fox and Anthony Anderson.
"It's a $6 million negative (in terms of Sony's cost) and we certainly hope we're headed to at least the mid-$20 millions," Sony Pictures Entertainment worldwide marketing &amp; distribution president Jeff Blake said Sunday morning.
"A very profitable Screen Gems release. Another low cost, highly focused entertaining release that I think really was handled very nicely by the team at Screen Gems--similar to The Brothers, which came out earlier this year and opened to $10.3 million (the weekend of Mar. 23-25 at 1,378 theaters, averaging $7,477 per theater), but was in a tougher period and dropped off pretty dramatically. This one in the fall, hopefully, will hold on a little bit and end up with similar results. Brothers ended up with about $28 million."
Blake added that he feels Screen Gems is "doing a very nice job with highly focused pictures that have great appeal to a segment of the audience. And they're doing a nice job getting the word out to them at a pretty reasonable price."
Bel-Air Entertainment's R rated drama Rock Star opened quietly via Warner Bros. in a tie for third place to an ESTIMATED $6.18 million at 2,525 theaters ($2,446 per theater). The film was financed by Bel-Air and is being released by Warners.
Directed by Stephen Herek, it stars Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston.
"It's a little disappointing, obviously, but our exits were pretty good," Warner Bros. Distribution president Dan Fellman said Sunday morning. "It was about 50-50 male-female and primarily 18-35. The one thing that stood out in the exits was that everybody liked a href="/celebrities/197412/Mark_Wahlberg" >Mark Wahlberg's performance in the movie. The best markets we had, not surprisingly, were college towns--like Boston was big. We're hoping to just hang in there through the fall and maybe we won't take these big drops that everybody's been taking in the summer."
MGM's Jeepers Creepers, the R rated horror film from the studio's United Artists label, which was first last week, tied for third place in its second week with a less scary ESTIMATED $6.17 million (-53%) at 2,944 theaters (theater count unchanged; $2,095 per theater). Its cume is approximately $24.3 million.
Written and directed by Victor Salva, it stars Gina Phillips, Justin Long, Jonathan Breck and Eileen Brennan.
(NOTE: Percentage comparisons indicated today are against the Friday through Sunday portion of the previous weekend, the four day Labor Day weekend.)
Dimension Films' PG-13 thriller The Others fell one rung to fifth in its fifth week, still showing good legs with an ESTIMATED $6.1 million (-25%) at 2,737 theaters (+21 theaters; $2,228 per theater). The Others, which cost only $17 million to make, has a cume of approximately $67.6 million, heading for $75-80 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by Alejandro Amenabar, it stars Nicole Kidman.
New Line Cinema's PG-13 rated action comedy blockbuster sequel Rush Hour 2 dropped four notches in its sixth week with an okay ESTIMATED $5.85 million (-37%) at 2,546 theaters (-279 theaters; $2,298 per theater). Its cume is approximately $206.1 million, heading for $210-215 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by Brett Ratner, it stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker.
"It's the highest grossing film in New Line history," New Line distribution president David Tuckerman said Sunday morning. "It's the number two picture of the year and of the summer. The little movie that could!"
Asked why the film worked so well, Tuckerman replied, "It's basically give the public what they want to see and they will come. That's the bottom line. The movie was funnier than the first. It delivered. And the public wanted to see more of what the first one was--and they got it."
Universal's R rated youth appeal comedy hit sequel American Pie 2 slid three pegs to seventh place in its fifth week with a less tempting ESTIMATED $4.74 million (-47%) at 2,777 theaters (-337 theaters; $1,705 per theater). Pie 2, which cost about $30 million to make, has a cume of approximately $131.2 million, heading for $140 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by J.B. Rogers, it stars Jason Biggs, Shannon Elizabeth, Alyson Hannigan, Chris Klein, Natasha Lyonne, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Tara Reid, Seann William Scott, Mena Suvari, Eddie Kaye Thomas and Eugene Levy.
Paramount's PG-13 comedy Rat Race fell three rungs to eighth place in its fourth week with an unexciting ESTIMATED $4.4 million (-39%) at 2,551 theaters (theater count unchanged; $1,725 per theater). Its cume is approximately $43.2 million.
Directed by Jerry Zucker, it stars Rowan Atkinson, John Cleese, Whoopi Goldberg, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Seth Green, Jon Lovitz, Breckin Meyer and Amy Smart.
Buena Vista/Disney's G rated family comedy hit The Princess Diaries dropped three notches to ninth place in its sixth week with a less royal ESTIMATED $3.4 million (-40%) at 2,410 theaters (-280 theaters; $1,420 per theater). Its cume is approximately $97.1 million, heading for $100 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by Garry Marshall, it stars Julie Andrews and Anne Hathaway.
Rounding out the Top Ten was Lions Gate Films' controversial R rated high school set violent drama O, down three pegs with a soft ESTIMATED $2.7 million (-53%) at 1,445 theaters (+11 theaters; $1,869 per theater). Its cume is approximately $10.8 million.
Directed by Tim Blake Nelson, it stars Mekhi Phifer, Josh Hartnett and Julia Stiles.
Other openings
This weekend also saw the arrival of Artisan Entertainment's PG-13 rated youth appeal thriller Soul Survivors to a deadly ESTIMATED $1.1 million at 601 theaters ($1,765 per theater).
Written and directed by Steve Carpenter, it stars Casey Affleck and Wes Bentley.
Paramount Classics' R rated drama Our Lady of the Assassins kicked off to a hopeful ESTIMATED $0.056 million at 4 theaters ($13,886 per theater).
Directed by Barbet Schroeder, it stars German Jaramillo and Anderson Ballesteros.
Sneak previews
This weekend saw Paramount hold sneak previews Saturday night of its PG-13 rated baseball drama Hardball.
Directed by Brian Robbins, it stars Keanu Reeves and Diane Lane.
"Hardball went very well," Paramount distribution president Wayne Lewellen said Sunday morning. "It played to 59 percent capacity. The reactions were 59 percent excellent and 37 percent good and very good and 4 percent fair (in Paramount's exit polls). 96 percent in the Top Two boxes. The audience was a little older, primarily 20-plus with families. So there's a mix of older-with-families."
Hardball opens Friday (Sept. 14) at about 2,100 theaters.
Expansions
On the expansion front, this weekend saw Fox Searchlight Pictures R rated hit thriller The Deep End go wider in its fifth week with a still encouraging ESTIMATED $0.9 million (-35%) at 401 theaters (+75 theaters; $2,254 per theater). Its cume is approximately $5.8 million.
Written produced and directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, it stars Tilda Swinton, Goran Visnjic and Jonathan Tucker.
MGM's release of United Artists' R rated youth appeal comedy Ghost World continued to widen in its eighth week with an okay ESTIMATED $0.39 million (-12%) at 91 theaters (+10 theaters; $4,246 per theater). Its cume is approximately $3.7 million.
Directed by Terry Swigoff, it stars Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Brad Renfro, Illeana Douglas and Steve Buscemi.
Miramax's R rated Apocalypse Now Redux widened in its sixth week with a still promising ESTIMATED $0.29 million (-35%) at 92 theaters (+11 theaters; $3,097 per theater). Its cume is approximately $3.2 million.
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, it stars Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Martin Sheen, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper and Harrison Ford.
International
On the international front, Universal reported that its domestic blockbuster The Fast and the Furious had its first major international release this weekend in Mexico with a strong ESTIMATED $0.75 million at 237 theaters, putting it number one in the market. Over the next three months Fast will open around the world, including this Friday (Sept. 14) in the U.K. and Sept. 20 in Australia.
Domestically, Fast is winding down its theatrical run after 12 weeks with a cume of $142.5 million.
Universal also said Sunday morning that its international release of Jurassic Park III has now hit $160 million with eight countries yet to open. Domestically, JP III has a cume of $177 million, giving it a worldwide cume to date of about $337 million.
Bridget Jones's Diary, which Universal and Miramax co-financed, has done about $122 million in its international release via Universal and still has 12 countries to open.
Universal said that in its third weekend in Germany Bridget moved up to first place with a $2.1 million gross that was up 1 percent from the previous weekend and up 43 percent from its opening weekend. Its cume in Germany is now $8.2 million.
In its third weekend in Austria, Bridget moved back to first place, grossing $265,000 at 65 theaters with a cume of $1.3 million.
Bridget opened in Hong Kong this weekend to very strong ticket sales of $238,000 at 24 theaters. Universal said its gross was 155 percent bigger than the opening for Billy Elliot, 55 percent ahead of Shakespeare in Love and 20 percent better than Liar, Liar.
Final top ten list for summer of 2001
Based on their actual cumes through Labor Day (Sept. 3), this summer's top ten grossing films were:
(1) Shrek (DreamWorks)- $262,908,727
(2) The Mummy Returns (Universal) - $201,707,090
(3) Rush Hour 2 (New Line) - $198,892,734
(4) Pearl Harbor (BV/Touchstone) - $196,656,492
(5) Jurassic Park III (Universal) - $175,832,085
(6) Planet of the Apes (Fox) - $173,069,748
(7) The Fast and the Furious (Universal) - $142,028,935
(8) Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (Paramount) - $130,722,949
(9) American Pie 2 (Universal) - $124,928,149
(10) Dr. Dolittle 2 (Fox) - $111,484,392
Weekend comparisons
Key films--those grossing more than $500,000--took in approximately $69.77 million, up about 28.97 per cent from the comparable weekend last year when key films grossed $54.1 million.
This weekend's key film gross cannot be compared to last weekend of this year, which was a four day holiday weekend.
Last year, Universal's opening week of The Watcher was first with $9.06 million at 2,742 theaters ($3,305 per theater); and USA Films' opening week of Nurse Betty was second with $7.15 million at 1,459 theaters ($4,898 per theater). The top two films one year ago grossed $16.2 million. This year, the top two films grossed an ESTIMATED $19.0 million.